Western Civilization Software is hard at work improving and revamping their already popular American Civil War strategy hit

Matrix Games and Western Civilization Software (www.west-civ.com) are excited to release a sneak peek at the highly anticipated update for their popular American Civil War turn-based strategy title, Forge of Freedom:The American Civil War 1861-1865. Standing as the second update for Forge of Freedom, this release is expected to be massive both in size and scope. Western Civilization Software has dedicated much of their time to improving and adding new content to this already well-received grand strategy title.

Among a myriad of changes and tweaks expected to vastly improve gameplay, gamers can also expect to see great new features such as a completely new campaign, Southern Steel. This new campaign features meticulously gathered economic and demographic parameters based on 1860 census data. Players will also be pleased to see a redesigned and vastly improved generals system. The new system will enhance the role of generals in the game in multiple ways: promotions and demotions can now change generals’ ratings and thus impact their effectiveness; demoted generals now have a chance to resign in protest; the foremost generals have been assigned historically-based special abilities that help them to train their men in particular aspects of combat; and, a database of start-dates has been created, allowing generals to appear in the game at the time that the historical generals first achieved the rank of general.

Here’s just a small portion of the other major improvements expected with the next patch for Forge of Freedom:

A.I. Enhancements. Many enhancements have been made to both the strategic and detailed-battle A.I., making for an even more challenging game.

Numerous User Interface Improvements. The user interface has been improved in various ways in response to player feedback, and numerous tweaks to the upgrade, economic, and attribute rules have been made.

More Biographies. An ambitious project of providing biographical sketches of all thousand Civil War generals as in-game text is now underway, with the inclusion of the first hundred bios, all voluntarily written by “Forge of Freedom” players and visitors to the Matrix forum.

Additional Reports. Adds significantly to the amount of information included in the various reports, both at the end of each turn and at the end of the game.

Battle History Screens. New Game Overview screens have been added, including one that tracks the performance of every brigade throughout the war in terms of casualties received and inflicted, and another screen that lets one watch a turn-by-turn replay showing the location and results of all of the battles one has fought. Units that perform especially well can now acquire special abilities that can make them as formidable as the "Iron Brigade" and "Stonewall Brigade."

PBEM Replay. Play-by-email has been improved not only in terms of more detailed battle reports, but by the addition of a replay feature that allows the player to watch all the moves and battles from any previous turns.

More Game Options. Adds multiple new game-play options that allow the player to tailor the game to his personal taste even more than before. For instance, players may now select a “total victory” option that lets them continue the war well beyond 1865.

Governors More Historic. The role of state governors has been made more realistic, since they now more likely to make requests based on historical developments in their states, and less likely to make unnecessary requests.

Click here to take a look at three new screenshots of the improvements coming with the new update. (They're the first three screenshots.)

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